If you ask most people – even many Christ-followers – what they think of when they hear the word evangelism, you can expect a litany of negatives.
Similarly, if you ask for their assessment of how the modern missionary movement has impacted the political development of the countries where missionaries worked, you will get a string of ugly terms, with colonialism, imperialism and forced conversion mixed in. Most now view missionaries in general – and evangelical Protestants in particular – as imperialistic bullies who did more harm than good.
But they are wrong.
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In recent years, sociologist Robert Woodberry has convincingly shown that the single most significant factor in determining the current health of a nation is the work of missionaries from the 19th century to today.
Woodberry writes, “Areas where Protestant missionaries had a significant presence in the past are on average more economically developed today, with comparatively better health, lower infant mortality, lower corruption, higher educational attainment (especially for women), and more robust membership in nongovernmental associations.”
In other words, the more gospel-motivated missionaries a country has seen, the better off that country is.
To many, Woodberry’s findings were shocking. To me, they make complete sense. Protestant missionaries – not the ones funded by governments or seeking after wealth, but the ones motivated by their love for God – naturally loved and cared for the people they encountered. They wanted to see people thrive, and they did this by introducing them to Jesus and working to bring justice to the oppressed.
And people who are truly following Jesus make great citizens!
The missionaries of the past were motivated to Proclaim the Good News and Engage in good works. As fellow disciples of Christ, our mission is the same. And our world will be better off if we take this mission seriously.